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Kuwaiti court acquits former Gitmo detainees

KUWAIT CITY - A criminal court on Saturday acquitted two former prisoners of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, of joining al-Qaida or the Taliban. Omar Rajab Amin and Abdullah Kamel al-Kundari denied any terror connections at the start of their trial. Their lawyers argued there was no evidence against them and the case was "political." Defense attorneys said the accused were in Afghanistan for charity work. The two men were not in court Saturday, but one of their lawyers said she expected them to be released soon.

12 convicted of terror charges

RABAT, MOROCCO - Twelve Islamic militants were convicted of terrorism-related charges, including eight with alleged ties to al-Qaida who had volunteered to fight in Iraq, Morocco's official news agency reported. The stiffest penalty, a 15-year sentence, went to Mohamed Ben El Hadi Messahel of Tunisia, the MAP agency reported. Messahel, 37, was the main defendant and had allegedly made contact with seven other defendants in Sale and Casablanca after entering Morocco in January last year, according to a police report, MAP said. The seven others, all Moroccan, were convicted on charges of "organizing a criminal group preparing and committing terror acts" and lesser counts, and received prison sentences of two to 10 years. One defendant was acquitted. In separate cases, four defendants were convicted on terrorism-related charges, sentencing them to prison terms of two to five years, MAP said.

Police officers die removing bomb

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA - Four police officers and a civilian were killed Saturday as officers moved a powerful bomb allegedly planted by leftist rebels as part of an attempt to kill a city mayor, authorities said. Police officers found the explosive before dawn Saturday, hidden in front of the radio station where a car bomb on Thursday nearly claimed the life of the progovernment mayor of Neiva, Cielo Gonzalez.

Eritrea blamed for missing Britons

MEKELE, ETHIOPIA - Ethiopian officials on Saturday accused forces from archrival Eritrea of kidnapping five British citizens and 13 Ethiopians who were touring a remote region Thursday near the African countries' long-disputed border, then taking the group to a military camp in Eritrea. The claims could not be independently verified. Calls to Eritrea's government spokesman were unanswered Saturday. Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea have been consistently strained since Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia's government in 1993 following a 30-year guerrilla war.

Landslides kill at least 40 people

JAKARTA, INDONESIA - Landslides triggered by days of heavy rain killed at least 40 people in eastern Indonesia on Saturday, and nearly 30 more were believed to be buried under the mud, officials said. Authorities on Flores island battled blocked roads to deliver emergency aid and help dig for survivors, said Rustam Pakaya, the chief of the Health Department's Crisis Center in the capital, Jakarta. Seasonal downpours cause dozens of deadly landslides and flash floods each year in Indonesia, a vast chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.

[Last modified March 4, 2007, 00:55:25]